Top Chinese Diplomat To Visit Japan Ahead Of Xi

A high-ranking Chinese diplomat will visit Japan this week to prepare for President Xi Jinping's visit to the country in June.

Japan's Foreign Ministry announced on Monday that Chinese Communist Party Political Bureau member Yang Jiechi will arrive for a three-day visit on Thursday.

Yang is scheduled to hold talks with the head of Japan's National Security Secretariat Shotaro Yachi.

Ministry sources say that during talks in the resort town of Karuizawa on Thursday, Yachi and Yang are expected to make preparations for Xi's visit to Japan for the G20 summit in Osaka late next month.

Arrangements are also underway for Yang to meet with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Foreign Minister Taro Kono. They would be expected to exchange views on regional issues such as North Korea, and trade friction between China and the United States.

US President Donald Trump, who has just begun a state visit to Japan, says trade between the two countries can be made fairer.Trump attended a dinner with Japanese and US business leaders at the US Ambassador's residence after arriving at Tokyo's Haneda Airport on Saturday.

A strong earthquake has struck eastern Japan. The Japan Meteorological Agency says the quake occurred in and around Chiba Prefecture near Tokyo. Hardest hit areas registered an intensity of 5 minus on the Japanese scale of 0 to 7.The magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck southern Chiba at 3:20 p.m. on...more

Tokyo police are beefing up security ahead of the state visit of US President Donald Trump. They are deploying a record number of officers for any visiting US president.Trump is due to arrive at Tokyo's Haneda Airport on Saturday evening. He will stay for four days.

The VIP room of a Japanese government plane that was taken out of service in March has been shown to the media for the first time.The Boeing 747 was used by prime ministers, Emperor Emeritus Akihito and Empress Emerita Michiko for 26 years from 1993.

All Nippon Airways debuted flights of a double-decker Airbus A380 from Narita Airport north of Tokyo, bound for Hawaii on Friday.The aircraft is one of the largest in the world, measuring 72 meters long and two stories high along its entire length. It has 520 seats -- more than double the average...more

In this week's Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Associate Editor Joel Stocksdale and Assistant Editor Zac Palmer. They kick off the podcast discussing the cars they've been driving in the office including the 2019 Buick Regal TourX, 2019 Honda Civic Touring, 2020 Kia...more